Plural receptacle container



March 17, 1964 A L. EHE

PLURAL RECEPTACLE CONTAINER Filed Feb. 17, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR r BY AzAERTLEHE a a a ATTORNEY March 17, 1964 A. L. EHE 3,125,275

PLURAL ascspmcu: comum Filed Feb. 17, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY Azaaerb EH5 ATTORN United States Patent 3,125,275 PLURAL RECEPTACLE CONTAINER Albert L. Elie, 166-41 Powells Cove Blvd., Whitestone, N.Y. Filed Feb. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 9,250 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-) ceptacles or cushioning separators in food packaging.

Perhaps the most familiar common use of these cups is in packaging of confectioneries, such as chocolate candies. Pleated cups are distinguished from the accordion-like I folded fluted cups by an overlapping of the sides. Such cups are used as containers for frozen confections, such as ice cream and sherbet, but in those applications, unlike the pleated cups of this invention, usually have a rolled top or lip to stiffen the cup sides and top. Corrugated cups are also familiar, usually in larger cup sizes. These cups are those with rounded flutes, the flutes being S-shaped in cross-section. All the cup styles described above may be considered to be folded from a sheet material and, in the following discussion and in the claims appended, the word fluted includes these several types.

Although plural receptacle containers have met with consumer acceptance and commercial success in a variety of packaging and processing applications those made to date have not been useful for the packing applications for which the folded cups of paper are most satisfactory. As an example of presently known multi-receptacle units may be mentioned the conventional baking pans for muffins and the like, which are stamped out of sheet metal. Containers of similar shape, such as egg holders and boxes have been molded from plastics. Egg cartons have been molded and pressed from a paper pulp slurry. But none of these containers is suitable for those packaging applications requiring a cushioning, yet yielding, economical, light weight, esthetically satisfactory receptacle. Furthermore, where foods are to be packaged the packing material must be perfectly safe for humans. Glassine which is free of additives, and untreated vegetable parchment are harmless to humans, while many of the plastics which are molded or used in metal coatings have not yet been cleared for food packaging.

The known plural receptacle packages have not been able to provide the necessary cushioning, yielding and embracing cradle for packing perishable fruits, foodstuffs and other fragile articles, such as electronic tubes and parts. This is especially true when the receptacles should be sufiiciently flexible to allow packing of articles of a variety of shapes and sizes, such as chocolates, cookies, biscuits, crackers, peaches, plums, nectarines, tomatoes and the like. The article of this invention has the necessary inherent structural and material characteristics to effect the maximum in protective packaging properties because the sheet construction maintains a desirable con struction of the whole unit while the accordion-like flutes, whether of V-, 8-, pleated or other suitable shape, gently support and position the contents without marking their surfaces and without allowing movement which could cause breakage. In the food industries the expeditious packing operations now possible with the invented sheet container speed processing appreciably. This is of greatest importance in the packing of perishable foods where the more efficient packing operation can so reduce packspoilage. Another significant advantage of the invented article is attributable to its great flexibility. A single size of the invented sheet of folded cups will accept and gently hold a variety of sizes of packed articles; only a minimum number of sheet sizes need be stocked where different sized items are packed, avoiding the current expensive pracnce of inventorying a wide size range of packing 1 ems.

Until the present invention plural receptacle containers had not been successfully made from paper. At least no such containers are known which. would have the very desirable packaging properties of the invention. A substantial proportion of the difliculties encountered in makmg such items is due to the physical characteristics ofthe paper itself.

Paper is not readily deformed or re-shaped into cuplike forms. Although it has sufficient strength for normal packaging, it cannot be molded or stretched into new shapes in the dry state. but before the work of the present inventor there was no way to convert the sheet of paper into an integrally attached multiple cup container without tearing or mutilating the paper or other similar material used. Now it is possible to make paper or other thin sheet material of s1m1lar physical properties into a sheet of attached folded receptacles of cup shape without straining, tearing or mutilating and without manufacturing difficulties. The folded sheet remains uniform in thickness, and if it were desired to prove this, could be ironed flat to original dimensions, showing that there has not been appreciable deformation other than the folds made.

The sheet of paper cups made is easy to handle, one action being all that is required to place the plurality of receptacles inside a box or carton, rather than the individual placements necessary heretofore. The package is more attractive than the familiar disarray of empty individual cups found in a box from which some of the contents have been removed. And these advantages are obtained at no less of the otherwise useful properties of the paper cups.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an integral plural receptacle container comprising a foldable sheet material folded into a plurality of cup-" like shaped, receptacles, each such receptacle having folded sides with the folds thereof extending upwardly and with each cup integrally attached to at least one other such cup at the top thereof. A preferred embodiment of the invention is an integral multi-receptacle container for foodstuffs and fragile articles, which has cushioning sides to accommodate yieldingly contents of a variety of sizes and shapes, which comprises a single sheet of paper folded intov a multiplicity of integrally attached cups, each of which has a fiat circular bottom and straight fluted sides extending upwardly and outwardly from the bottom to an open top to form a fluted, inverted frustoconical receptacle, the top of which is integrally attached to corresponding parts of other such cups by virtue of having been made from the same sheet of paper.

The invention will be readily understood by reference to the description herein given, together with the illustrations of the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of four fluted cups, integrally It can be folded into new forms may be folded to the form of the cups illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of four partially fluted cups attached together at the tops of their smooth walled conical portions of their sides;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial bottom view of the cups of FIG. 6, better illustrating the straight side portions and their attachment; and

FIG. 8 is a partial vertical elevation along plane 8-8.

Numeral 11 designates a preferred embodiment of the plural receptacle container. To facilitate illustration, only four cups have been shown but it is evident that other numbers, tens and more, may be made from a single sheet of suitable material, f so desired. As shown, the cups have been located so that their centers define squares but they may also be arranged to have their centers determine other regular polygons and even less regular shapes. When situated in groups at least three wide and three deep, the centrally located cup in a square configuration will contact four other cups, a corner cup will be attached to two other cups and a side cup will be attached at three places to adjoining cups.

Cups 13 comprise flat circular bottoms 15 and fluted sides 17. Flutes 19 are linearly folded; external and internal fluting lines 21 and 23, respectively, extend up- 25 wardly and slightly outwardly to the open top 25 of the cup 13. All flutes 19 in the illustrated embodiment are of the same shape. The depth of the flute is a measure of the degree of cushioning exerted by the cup, the greater the depth, the more resilience of the side walls. Although cups having fluted cylindrical walls, as distinguished from fluted frusto conical walls, can be made, following the general teachings of this specification, the flaring cups are much preferred, for both practical and aesthetic reasons. In addition to being much more attrac- 3 tive, the flared cups much more readily conform to different shapes and sizes of contents.

At the tops of the attached cups they are attached by narrow strips 27. In FIGS. 1-5, the connecting strips are fluted in extensions of the cup flutes and are folded downwardly so that they allow the flutes of adjacent cups to interfit closely so that they effectively share a common boundary line 29. Between the shared fluted boundaries the fluted sides 31 of the cups are free of attachment to one another. In the illustrations given, the paper that had been in the space 33 had been cut away, either before, during or after the folding of the cup flutes. It is not essential that the cups be so separated although it is much preferred. If desired, the paper initially in the space 33 may be left in place and may be so folded that it satisfactorily fits the reduced area it has to cover. Such folds may be made to maintain the paper at the topmost level of the cups or to depress or elevate it slightly.

In FIGS. 6-8 there is shown another sheet of fluted paper cups-essentially like those already described but with the sides of the cups unfluted or straight sided in the areas under the sections of attachment of the cups. As illustrated, where the cups are attached the paper is folded over in a straight line or only slightly curved 0 bend 35 and the side walls 37 under that bend are relatively straight or frusto conical. In some instances the side walls may be folded or fluted to an extent and the top edge may be straight. In cups of the type of FIGS. 6-8, the flutes will usually be deeper than in cups of 5 the style of FIGS. l-5, if other measurements are the same, this because the flutes must take in more paper due to the presence of the straight walled sections under the attached sections, the straight sections not utilizing as much paper as the fluted parts.

The invented sheets of integrally attached cups may be made by pressing a sheet of material into a die or over forming grooves to make the fluted sides. As was stated earlier, the sides may be folded by other methods than fluting but, because fluting is much preferred, it

will be described here in greater detail than other folds. In forming fluted cups, to prevent tearing or mutilating of the paper sheet, the dies must be as close together as the paper cups will be after completion of the folding. Yet, if they were held at such a distance the paper would be mutilated during folding. If they were further apart than the final cups were designed to be, the paper would be bent during shaping, as the folds pulled it together.

It has now been discovered that if the multiple dies are' moved closer together as they descend to form the fluted cup sides, the paper will not be torn during formation of the cups. Thus, the speed of movement is controlled so that the movement together of the dies corresponds to the speed at which the paper is drawn together and the creation of strains is thereby prevented. The machine for carrying out this process in accordance with the disclosed inventive concept is to be described in another patent application.

The formation of the cups may be brought about in other manner than those specifically described herein, so long as the procedure followed allows the paper to move together at the same speed at which it is being forced past the shaping structure. Thus, the paper may be initially in position as a flat sheet before being pressed into shape or, alternatively, it may be first folded somewhat inwardly so that the dies may start their movement nearer to above their final positions, thereby minimizing the necessity of the dies moving relatively great distances toward each other as the cup flutes are formed. The cups may be made in one die movement or the forming may be done stepwise. One sheet may be pressed at a time or a multiple pressing or forming of as many as about fifty sheets may be effected simultaneously. When it is desired to shape several sheets at a time his advantageous to make the folds of fluted or corrugated form, rather than pleated, because pleated cups are more difficult tosubsequently separate into individual sheets after pressing. If the sides of the fluted cups are lef. straight walled near the areas of attachment of the cups a further advantage is obtained. In that case the flutes do not tend to bind as much as when the cups share a common fluting line.

The invented integral cups have been described as being made out of paper or some other similar material which does not stretch or mold itself to new shapes readily and has been folded to the shapes described. It will be: evident that other sheet materials may also be made into the invented forms, even if they are materials which can be molded or stamped easily. However, the paper cups are most useful in general applications and are; greatly preferred.

The integral sheets of folded cups are decidedly supe-- rior to single cups in a great number of ways, some of which will be mentioned here. The single sheets can be; placed in a larger receptacle, such as a candy or packingbox, with a single easy operation, which better lends itself to automatic packaging. As the items to be packed are: consumed, the empty cups remain in place, giving the. package a neat and attractive appearance, in contrast to the disorderly array of scattered cups usually seen in a.- partially emptied candy box. Being attached, the cups. maintain a definite spatial relationship, keeping the packed items in a line or specific arrangement, if desired. Be cause of their attachment the cups will exert a greater cushioning effect than would a group of independent cups.. Special packing effects may also be obtained. For example, where it is advantageous to cover the packed article, one may merely fold over the adjoining cup so that it acts as a cover, an attached cover too, which will not come loose. Other advantages of the invention will be clear to the reader from the drawing andforegoing description and need not be recited at length here.

The invention has been described with particular reference to the drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof. 'It will be obvious to one of skill in the art that modifications of the devices shown and discussed may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements of the described structure without departing from the spirit of the invention or going beyond the scope of the claims. Thus, it is within the patented invention to make cups of oval, oblong and square shapes, with sides of either a tubular or frustoconical type, as may be desired or as may be most suitable for containing the particular articles being packaged.

What is claimed is:

1. An integral plural receptacle container for holding articles to be shipped in cushioned spaced relationship with other such articles which comprises a foldable substantially non-stretching single sheet of material of substantially uniform thickness with folding characteristics similar to those of paper, folded into at least four cuplike shaped circular receptacles, each of which has a bottom and fluted sides extending and flaring upwardly and outwardly therefrom to a substantially circular fluted top, with bottoms and tops of the receptacle sides being substantially coplanar with other such bottoms and tops, respectively, the sides of the cup-like receptacles being integrally joined with the sides of at least two other such cup-like receptacles tangentially at the tops of the fluted sides thereof by narrow strips of such sides at least two non-aligned positions at the top of each cup-like receptacle, with the sides of the cups between the top attachment strips being free of attachment to each other and out of contact with each other so that the fluted cup walls are flexible and resilient and exert a cushioning and holding effect on materials packed therein.

6 2. An integral plural receptacle container for holding articles to be shipped in cushioned spaced relationship with other such articles according to claim 1 in which the sides of the cup-like receptacles are integrally joined with the sides of at least two other such cup-like receptacles at the tops of the fluted cup sides by narrow strips of foldable material tangentially along mutual fluting lines so that the flutes of attached cups intermesh.

3. An integral plural receptacle container for holding articles to be shipped in cushioned spaced relationship with other such articles according to claim 1 in which the sides of the cup-like receptacles are flat and non-fluted at the tops thereof where the receptacles are integrally joined to other such receptacles and are flat and nonfluted below said integrally joined tops of receptacle sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN INTEGRAL PLURAL RECEPTACLE CONTAINER FOR HOLDING ARTICLES TO BE SHIPPED IN CUSHIONED SPACED RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER SUCH ARTICLES WHICH COMPRISES A FOLDABLE SUBSTANTIALLY NON-STRETCHING SINGLE SHEET OF MATERIAL OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS WITH FOLDING CHARACTERISTICS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF PAPER, FOLDED INTO AT LEAST FOUR CUPLIKE SHAPED CIRCULAR RECEPTACLES, EACH OF WHICH HAS A BOTTOM AND FLUTED SIDES EXTENDING AND FLARING UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY THEREFROM TO A SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR FLUTED TOP, WITH BOTTOMS AND TOPS OF THE RECEPTACLE SIDES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH OTHER SUCH BOTTOMS AND TOPS, RESPECTIVELY, THE SIDES OF THE CUP-LIKE RECEPTACLES BEING INTEGRALLY JOINED WITH THE SIDES OF AT LEAST TWO OTHER SUCH CUP-LIKE RECEPTACLES TANGENTIALLY AT THE TOPS OF THE FLUTED SIDES THEREOF BY NARROW STRIPS OF SUCH SIDES AT LEAST TWO NON-ALIGNED POSITIONS AT THE TOP OF EACH CUP-LIKE RECEPTACLE, WITH THE SIDES OF THE CUPS BETWEEN THE TOP ATTACHMENT STRIPS BEING FREE OF ATTACHMENT TO EACH OTHER AND OUT OF CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER SO THAT THE FLUTED CUP WALLS ARE FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT AND EXERT A CUSHIONING AND HOLDING EFFECT ON MATERIALS PACKED THEREIN. 